Mystery Worshipper:
Musical1.The church:Cathedral
of St Matthew the Apostle, Washington, DC.Denomination:
Roman Catholic, Archdiocese
of Washington.The building:
The present building was begun in 1893 and replaced an earlier
structure. It was designed by the noted architect C. Grant LaFarge,
whose firm was also principal architect of New York's Cathedral
of St John the Divine until replaced by Ralph Adams Cram, and
whose imaginative designs for many of New York's subway stations
enthralled commuters for decades (alas, most of these stations
are now gone). St Matthew's is a red brick building of Romanesque/Byzantine
design. The interior is very ornate, with mosaics all over.
In front of the altar is an inscription in marble marking where
President John F. Kennedy's casket rested during his funeral
mass. The Blessed Sacrament is reserved at a side altar.The church:
The cathedral is fittingly named in honor of St Matthew, who,
having been a tax collector, is the patron saint of government
workers. Its location in the heart of downtown Washington makes
it popular with students and office workers as well as government
officials. They sponsor adult formation classes in English and
Spanish; a Cathedral Club, a social and spiritual growth organization
for adults; and several programs for the homeless as well as
for needy families. The cathedral ministers to a large Hispanic
community and celebrates a mass in Latin (novus ordo)
each Sunday.The neighborhood:
The cathedral is on Rhode Island Avenue between Connecticut
Avenue and 17th Street near Dupont Circle, a busy area of shops
and office buildings.The cast:
I have no idea. The priest never said his name, and the lector
slurred it. The previous Sunday's bulletin didn't help.The date & time:
Friday, December 18, 2009, 12.10pm.

What was the name of the service?
Daily mass.

How full was the building?
Probably about 50 people in attendance. The cathedral can hold
about 2,000. Everyone was pretty well spread out, so it didn't
look as empty as it actually was.

Did anyone welcome you personally?
I stood in line for confession, and the lady in front of me
told me that she had been waiting for over 15 minutes. That
was my greeting.

Was your pew comfortable?
Yes, but nothing out of the ordinary about it.

How would you describe
the pre-service atmosphere?
Quiet and prayerful. A few minutes before mass was scheduled
to begin, the priest came out of the confessional and said he
didn't have time to hear any more confessions. There were still
five people in line ahead of me.

Did anything distract you?
The fact that that the church has many mosaics and other art,
but you had to look very hard to find a picture of Jesus.

Was the worship stiff-upper-lip, happy clappy, or
what?
Stiff upper lip, but not overly stuffy. A quick low mass (though the alleluia was sung).

Exactly how long was the sermon?
4 minutes.

On a scale of 1-10, how good was the preacher?
5  Very conversational in tone.

In a nutshell, what was the sermon
about?
He preached on the gospel for the day, Matthew 1:18-25 (an angel
tells Joseph not to hesitate to take Mary as his wife). He basically
summarized the reading without elaborating upon it, although
he did opine that Joseph may have intended to divorce Mary because
he wanted no part of being Jesus' foster father.

Which part of the service was like being in
heaven?
The fact that a group of people had taken time out of their
workday to go to mass, and it wasn't all old ladies.

And which part was like being in... er... the other place?
Being denied the opportunity to go to confession, and having
really to look to find Jesus.

What happened when you hung around after the service looking lost?
The priest extended his hand and said, "God bless you. Happy
Advent." After that everyone left without any acknowledgments
or visiting. I tried to look lost, but no one noticed, although
the priest did say hello to me.

How would you describe the after-service
coffee?
None.

How would you feel about making this church your regular (where 10 = ecstatic, 0 = terminal)?
3  I liked the fact that it was a young crowd, but there
wasn't any real sense of community. And not seeing a representation
of Jesus among all the artwork really bothered me.

Did the service make you feel glad to be a
Christian?
Yes, even so.

What one thing will you remember about all this in seven days' time?
Having to look to find Jesus.

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